This study sought to determine the contributions of college students' perceptions of family of origin health and self-esteem to their perceptions of the divorced single mother. It was hypothesized that individuals who hold more positive views of their family of origin health will also view themselves and, consequently, the divorced single mother more positively. Participants were 170 college students, 113 of whom lived only with their biological parents, and 57 of whom lived at sometime in their lives with a divorced single mother. Four instruments were used to collect the data, including the Family of Origin Health Scale (Hovestadt et al., 1985), the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the Perception of Divorced Mother Scale (Ganong & Coleman, 1983), and a demographic questionnaire. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were used in data analyses. Generally, results indicated that family type made no major impact on participants' perceptions of the divorced single mother. Among participants in the biological parent group and the divorced single mother group, family of origin health significantly predicted more positive perceptions of the divorced single mother. In this analysis, the regression model for the biological parent group was significant, while for the divorced single mother group it was not. Self-esteem was not found to contribute significantly to participants' perceptions of the divorced single mother, and thus did not mediate the relationship between family of origin health and perceptions of the divorced single mother. Finally, among the biological parent group, amount of interaction with single parent families headed by a divorced single mother significantly predicted more positive perceptions of the divorced single mother. Among the divorced single mother group, however, amount of time lived in a single parent family headed by a divorced mother did not significantly predict their perceptions of the divorced single mother. / Graduation date: 1995

This study was conducted to determine if there were possible areas of student individuality and uniqueness that might contribute to successful completion of distance education courses as compared to successful completion of traditional classroom courses. Five areas of possible differences were identified and studied: 1) differences between the number of successful completers, 2) differences in individual student learning styles, 3) differences in individual student self-directed learning readiness, 4) differences in individual student motivation, and 5) differences in individual student personal profiles. The data collected in this research project came from 132 students enrolled in Psychology 111, a distance education course and traditional classroom course at University of Alaska Anchorage. Three survey instruments were used to collect the data as follows: Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI), Guglielmino's Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), and a General Questionnaire. In addition, students' final class standings (Pass/Fail) were used to determine completion status. Findings of the study indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the number of successful completers of distance education courses as compared to successful completers for traditional classroom courses. Findings also indicated that areas of learning style and learning readiness had no effect on the successful completion rates of students enrolled in distance education courses as compared to students enrolled in traditional classroom courses. Motivational differences appeared between the two groups studied in two areas, "Retraining" and "Fits my work schedule." The study findings also suggested that there were statistically significant differences in distance education students' personal profiles as compared to traditional classroom students' personal profiles in such areas as gender, full-time student status, marital status, and number of dependents. / Graduation date: 1994

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of student attitude to academic achievement in reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies while holding gender, grade level, and class size constant.The review of related literature revealed the transition of educational emphasis from positive cognitive outcomes to affective considerations. Research dealing with the effect of the independent variables, gender, grade level, and class size, as well as that showing the impact of attitude toward reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies as they affected achievement in those subjects was studied.A multiple partial canonical correlation analysis was used to treat the data.POPULATION1. Sample data were collected from thirteen Indianapolis area private Christian schools.2. Three hundred eighty-four subjects were boys and three hundred eighty-three were girls.3. Grade four had one hundred forty-five boys and one hundred forty-three girls. Grade five had one hundred eighteen boys and one hundred sixteen girls while grade six had one hundred twenty boys and one hundred twenty-five girls.4. Forty-nine students were administered the California Achievement Test, one hundred forty-six the Stanford Achievement Test, one hundred forty-eight the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and four hundred twenty-four the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.5. Three hundred seventy-two students were from Baptist schools, fifty-four from Church of Christ schools, seventy-five from Church of God schools, forty-one from Nazarene schools, and two hundred twenty-five from non-church related Christian schools.FINDINGSThe null hypothesis was rejected at the .01 significance level for the California Achievement Test, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and the Stanford Achievement Test, and at the .05 significance level for the Metropolitan Achievement Test.CONCLUSIONS1. There is a relationship between student attitude toward reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies and achievement in reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies when extraneous variables are partialed out.2. That the relationship is not the result of sample error is implied by the significant X2 tests.

This study investigated the factors that influence community college students' attitudes toward technology, particularly in teaching and learning experiences. Studies on post-secondary students' attitudes reported in the literature are limited. Factors cited previously as having an effect on attitudes towards technology and toward computers included: gender; age; presence of a computer in the home; completion of a formal technology course; and comfort with technology. The subjects in this study were 372 students in freshman level credit English classes in the five colleges of the North Harris Montgomery Community College District located in the greater metropolitan Houston area. Previous research instruments and studies to measure students' attitudes toward technology were reviewed. A modified version of the Secondary Students Attitudes' Toward Technology (SSATT) was developed for this study because of the content, reliability, and applicability to the postsecondary population. The instrument was administered in the spring of 2005. The fact that 95.4% of the participants reported having a computer at home and that 70.2% reported having had a formal technology class provided insight into the integration of technology in the lives of this community college sample. A correlation matrix of all variables and analysis of variance were performed. Factor analyses were performed to identify subcomponents of the instrument. Eight factors were identified: (1) need for technology competence, (2) technology benefits, (3) negative aspects of technology, (4) technology and the workplace, (5) impact of increased use of technology, (6) video games, (7) technology and job creation, and (8) technology and safety. A conclusion of the study was that neither age nor gender had a significant effect on the post-secondary students' attitudes toward technology, which differs from the findings in some of the previous studies. Females reported being as comfortable, if not more so, with technology in teaching and learning experiences as the males in the study. Exposure to technology, completion of a formal technology class, and the use of computers appeared to positively affect community college students' attitudes toward technology.

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Whilst much has been written about the determinants of suicidal behaviour within a South African context, few studies have investigated suicidal behaviour from a developmental context. This study explored the relationship between suicidal tendencies, coping styles, and Intimacy vs. Isolation. There were 175 participants between the ages of 18 to 24 years. Scales measuring coping, suicidal attitudes, and intimacy resolution were administered. The data was analysed quantitatively. Most significant in the findings is the relationship that exists between intimacy resolution, suicidal attitudes and active coping styles. These and other findings provide an initial but empirically important platform for future research endeavours that aim to understand the incidence of suicide amongst one of the most at-risk groups in South Africa today. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.